APPETITE FOR DESTRUCTION AN AMERICAN NIGHTMARE by Greg Haberny and Elmer Presslee

About

Strychnin Gallery presents: APPETITE FOR DESTRUCTION AN AMERICAN NIGHTMARE by Greg Haberny and Elmer Presslee Opening night on April 8th 2011 from 7 pm. Being contemporary artists with an extraordinary grasp and awareness for lifestyles, ideologies and cultural phenomena, Greg Haberny and Elmer Presslee's artworks aim to depict and interpret the present state of American society and the circumstances that shape it. Their art displays and challenges the impact of 'The American Dream' or likewise 'The American Nightmare'. This exhibition consists of many highly powerful works that showcase one of humans' most fatal and disastrous attributes: The appetite for destruction! Greg Haberny Greg Haberny comes from a family artists. His grandmother, an impressionist painter, and his father, a folk artist, influenced him not only with their technique, but also with their work ethic. Though, after his early discovery of artistic expression through drawing Greg's interest in the artistic spectrum began to shift. He started to focus on film and photography and majored in Media Studies / Film at the University of Connecticut in Stamford and the Sacred Heart University in Fairfield. During this time Greg produced screenplays, directed several short films and became involved in acting. However, the realization of his potential as an artist and his desire to create eventually led the way for his career. Being influenced by the COBRA Movement, the New York Abstract Expressionists as well as many street and conceptional artists, Greg's artworks show a distinctive style shaped by a variety of different artists and disciplines. Elmer Presslee A significant force behind Elmer Presslee's art is, as he describes it, the fact that he works out his psychic shit through it. Sometimes I don't talk about all of the details because they are truly grotesque, sometimes they are classic sexual fantasies - the worm eating through the apple. Sometimes more complex, as in pulling from remote crevices on the dark side of my cerebral cortex - seeing the male animal pulling eggs out of orifices and then nurturing them.“ But whether or not this quote gives you a grasp of what the motifs behind his works are, you will definitely be able to make up your mind when seeing his creations. They truly speak for themselves, yet they give room for your personal interpretation. Weird but conceivable might be a fitting description, even though it is really hard to find one.